On Jan. 27, stadium finance expert Mitchell Ziets shares this statistic with the board of directors of the Centre City Development Corp., San Diego’s downtown redevelopment arm: On average since 2002, the public has paid for more than half the construction costs of major football stadium projects around the country. He said the public investment in 11 construction or renovation projects averaged 54 percent though his numbers omit a project or two.

Ziets’ analysis means the taxpayer contribution to a new Chargers stadium could be in the $400 million range based on the team’s estimated $700 million to $800 million cost of building a new venue east of Petco Park downtown.